Cloverfield (film)/Cloverfield Monster
Clover is the name given to the mosnter in the movie Cloverfield. The name was given to it by the production crew, though an actual name is never given, though Clover is generally excepted. It is given various names by fans and characters alike. Appearance The monster is a 350 foot high quadruped with four limbs and a long fork-finned tail. The uppermost triple-jointed limb pair are longer than the other 2, ending in a multi-fingered hand which can bend backward so that the creature can walk on its knuckles. The double-jointed, squat legs are powerful enough to support the creature’s mass, and yet still allow it to move quickly for an organism of its size. Each of its feet is 30-40 feet in length, roughly the size of a city transit bus. The creature is covered in grey skin that exhibits a white pallor. The skin is also host to an indeterminate number of relatively smaller parasitic creatures. Tucked between the monster's legs are two "external esophogi". The esophogi are used to eat creatures much smaller than itself (humans). In the Cloverfield/Kishin manga, the monster's external esophogi are shown. Also, long, thinner tubes wrap around victems to bring victems in. The esophogi were first clearly seen when Hud looks up at the monster before it bites him. Fans misinterpreted the arms to be limbs. The esophogi end in teeth-like projections. Its head has sharp, bony features and two eyes with pupils large enough to almost obscure their requisite sclera from view. There are a set of membranous sacks on either side of the head behind the eyes, which inflate and receed back into the head, perhaps in time with its respiration. The creature has a high resistance to projectile weaponry. Shells from M-1 tanks, AT-4 rockets, 80 Mk 82 bombs and other high powered ordnance failed to do anything other than aggravate the creature. According to film producer J.J. Abrams, the creature is “. . . a baby. He’s brand-new. He’s confused, disoriented and irritable. And he’s been down there in the water for thousands and thousands of years.” Although witnesses of the event have commented that they saw the creature eating people, there is nonetheless no concrete evidence to verify this. In fact, a video found in Area 447 shows the creature grabbing the videographer (Hud) with its mouth, only to drop the top half ten seconds later.It could also be that the creature might have only bitten out of curiosity which could explain why it did not swallow its victim. Names Given Since the monster is never named in the film, it has become known in the fan community by a variety of names, including "Clovey" ("Clovy" or "Clovie"), "Cloverfield", "Terry" (short for the adjective 'terrible' which is used once by Hud to describe the beast while in a hurry), "Gwaka", "Slusho", "A Terrible Thing", "Big Barney", "Mr. Grumpypants" To the film’s production crew it was affectionately known as "Clover." The Department of Defense named the monster "Large Scale Aggressor", or "LSA". Parasites The Monster was also covered in thousands of parasites that are about the same weight and height as a dog. They have 10 legs, consisting of six spider-like, double jointed legs and 4 "pincers" on the top and back of its body. They have very large jaws, pale grayish skin and many black eyes. They closely resemble a giant spider. The Department of Defense called the parasites "HSP", for "Human Scale Parasite". The Department noticed how the parasites attack with pack coordination, and prefer enclosed spaces for trapping and surprising prey. They can also detect prey from afar, by an unknown method. It was estimated that over 2,000 of the parasites detached from Clover during Cloverfield, and were about as much of a reason for the HAMMERDOWN protocol as Clover itself. It has been theorized that Clover came ashore in the first place in order to scratch off the parasites, which might explain part of the random property damage caused. Autopsies on the corpses of parasites has shown high blood levels of kaitei no mitsu, or "Seabed's Nectar", the secret ingredient of Tagruato-owned frozen drink Slusho!. The parasite's saliva contains an extremely powerful anticoagulent designed presumably to feed on Clover's blood. It possibly uses water as a catalyst. Clover is enormous creature with a hide resistant to heavy artillery, so any chemical designed to cause even negligible damage to it would have rather traumatic effects if used on a terrestrial mammal like a human. Marlena Diamond is killed by a parasite's bite in the film. The bite in the subway caused Marlena to bleed from the eyes and vomit blood from the mouth. Before Marlena explodes, a soldier is wheeled by the group, chest having gaping hole, and the medical officers saying "another bite", foreshadowing Marlena's fate. History The Monster's origins are unknown so far, but many people speculate that it is of extraterrestrial descent, even though this has been denied by J.J. Abrams. In the scene where Rob, Lily, Marlena, and Hud are walking though the subway Hud says to Rob "Dude, think about it the ocean is huge." talking* about the monster's origins. This could connect to Abrams saying the monster is from the water. Abrams wanted the movie to be realistic; if a monster did attack we would have no idea where it came from unless we witnessed it. After many military attempts at bombing the monster and creating much devastation in Manhattan, the creature's fate is still yet to be revealed. Many argue that an audio clip at the end of the credits in the film said the words "Help Us" but it is in fact "It's still alive," only backwards. After Operation HAMMER-DOWN, the monster has apparently survived. However, recent interviews with J.J. Abramms tell us that the bombing kills the monster. Category:Characters